


Bittersweet Love

by Armin_leonhardt32



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, I'll add more tags as this story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28895847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Armin_leonhardt32/pseuds/Armin_leonhardt32
Summary: The story of a love that everyone thought impossible.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart, Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager, Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Sorrow Worn Behind A Mask

**Author's Note:**

> A/N-Hello! It's ya boi Armin here with a brand new story that had been sitting in the bottom of my brain for a long time, uhm this story probably won't be good. I'm just writing it because I had to get this idea out of my head. Anyways if you do enjoy this story then Uhm...Thanks, I guess. ALSO! There are spoilers Like....A lot SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
> 
> All right's belong to Hajime Isayama, and mappa and wit studios.
> 
> Thank you readers for reading. 

Nicht alle Dinge scheinen so zu wie sie sind....(translation At the bottom of the page.)

A monster...It's all Annie could call herself. How could she not, after all the innocent men and women she killed? How many had she killed? Hundreds, maybe more? She had lost count, she had lost count of the many lives she had ended.

Annie was a monster, and that was something that she came to accept overtime. All the irredeemable sins she committed that day...

The screams of her comrades, pleading for her to stop echoed throughout her head, The sound of their bones snapping, and being smashed, was like torture. It sickened her. And she could still hear their screams ringing throughout her mind still. The sound of Marco's Pleads for help...It all hurt to hear so much.

But...despite all of these things, she knew she had to continue all of this mass destruction, for her father's sake. Her own life and her father's depended on it.

"Please forgive me, Annie...But promise me one thing...Promise that you'll always come back"

She had to go back.

But... at this point, did she even deserve to go back home and live peacefully, after all the sins she committed? All the blood she spilled would taint her forever till the day she died.

It wasn't a surprise when nobody liked Annie, After all.. what would they do when they found out what she did? What...What would he do?

What would Armin do? He would most definitely hate her. He'd probably want to see her dead... No, he was too kind and gentle to want to see her dead, but he'd still hate her. She didn't want that...She wanted to be a good person to him...

"Urgh..what am I thinking," Annie thought to herself as she shifted uncomfortably on her heels. The dim light that filled her room cast a dim orange tint to the atmosphere. It was perhaps the only thing at the moment that calmed her mind.

It was getting quite late. due to how dark it was outside, Annie knew it was time to sleep. She sat up from the chair and got ready for bed.

She hated sleeping. She knew what happened every time she did. The nightmares were the same every time.

The voices of the ones she killed, Their bloody mangled hands all grabbed at her and pulled her down beneath a thick black liquid, asking her why she had cold-bloodedly murdered then. She called out for help, but no one ever came. But tonight things went differently.

Tonight, she didn't dream about her victims. Tonight, she dreamed about something else, Tonight she dreamed about Armin.

The cool breeze of the outside world soothed Armin's mind as he did his shift taking watch for any titans beyond the outer exterior of wall Rose. Everything seemed to be so quiet and peaceful. The moon cast a white tint upon the land. The stars shone brightly in the pitch-black sky. 

Nothing could pull the beauty out of this moment. Well, except for titans, of course.

Titans were a mystery to the people that lived inside the walls. They never fully understood where they came from, and why they ate humans.

Was it out of pure cruel enjoyment? Or simply because they were higher up on the food chain? And what was even crazier was that some people had the ability to transform... no, more like control a titan body that materialized out of thin air.

Just the thought of people being able to transform into titans reminded Armin of the day of the 57th Expedition outside of the walls. It was meant to be a mission undertaken to plot a course from the Karanes District to Shiganshina District. It failed, though, because it was sabotaged by the Female Titan. Over one hundred people died that day, and all of the Levi squad was wiped out.

The female titan...Armin had a vague idea of who it was, not that he really wanted to believe himself.

Armin was pulled out of his thoughts when a familiar feminine voice spoke to him. "Armin, what are you doing up here all alone?" 

He turned to face the girl; her iconic cold, unemotional expression displayed on her face."Oh, hey Annie." The blonde-haired cinnamon roll spoke. "What are you doing up here so late?"

Annie simply crossed her arms and shrugged. "I'd like to ask the same thing. Your shift ended an hour ago," She said plainly.

He scratched the back of his neck, let out a soft chuckle, and waved her towards him. "I just wanted to look at the stars," He answered. "Aren't they beautiful?"

Annie looked up at the sky taking in the glorious sight.

"Hehe...they might be beautiful. But I know something even more beautiful than them." Armin said, quietly.

Annie's face flushed red at his words. "Something even more beautiful than the stars?" She thought to herself. Without her realizing, Armin had gotten closer, A little too close. She looked away, her face flushing red.

"Annie..." Her face was lifted to meet Armin's elegant sea blue eyes. He gave her a soft smile that made her blush even more. "The stars may be beautiful, but you're the most beautiful thing in this world." 

Annie's brain went into shock overload, I couldn't think straight anymore. "M-me Beautiful?" were the only words Annie could muster.

What happened next shocked Annie out of everything that had happened so far. 

He gently placed his lips upon hers, locking her in a passionate kiss. Annie felt like her legs were going to give out any second. Her heart thumped violently in her chest. It was like she had melted into him. She noticed every little feature about him. The sweet scent of his body, his heart's steady beat... 

Armin pulled away, a string of saliva connecting their lips together, "...Annie, I love-"

Before he could finish his sentence, everything went black...

Annie jolted upright in her bed, her clothes plastered onto her body due to the cold sweat. "What was that dream?" She asked herself out loud. She couldn't allow herself to have dreams like that ever again. It would make her job harder than it already was. 

She couldn't allow herself to love Armin because she was a monster. She was a warrior that has to complete an important task. But behind all of that she is alone...and afraid...and she was full of sorrow. And it was then that the strong defensive barrier that she had built up had Shattered, and she was left weak and sobbing the pain that filled her heart away.

The next morning Annie woke up in her bed with no intention of getting up, The sheet's were damp from her tears the previous night, and her body had cramps all over from sleeping in a curled up ball.

"This is the price of being a warrior..." She said out loud. This truly was the price of being a warrior, a tool to gain a higher advantage for Marley. 

~~~

Armin awoke to the sound of heavy footsteps and loud chatter outside his room door, The thick beams of light sneaking in through the cracks of the blinds. "Urgh...My back hurts" The blondette said sliding out from under the covers letting his legs dangle over the side of the bed. 

There was a loud rapping at the door that was followed by a familiar raven-haired teen's voice, "ARMIN COME ON WAKE UP! WE'RE ABOUT TO GO WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO WASTE!"

Armin groaned and stood up off the bed, "I'm coming Eren, I just need to get my uniform on". Armin rushed and got his uniform and green cape with the wings of freedom embedded on the back. Today was the day that they would capture the female titan.

A few minutes later and Armin was speed walking down the hallway with Eren and Mikasa, "How do you guys think this will go?" Eren asked Tucking the key tied around his neck into his shirt. "If I'm going, to be honest," Armin spoke "We are probably going to lose a lot of people or at least have a lot injured. Even with Erwin's plan, there are many flaws that could leave us in the cold out there" 

Eren just blankly looked at Armin, "But since we have you as back up, everything could go as planned." Armin spoke.

Armin dreaded what he was going to see and do later...but it was for the best, maybe he could persuade her to come to their side, All he could think about was "Annie" 


	2. It's not true, is it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I dunno find out what this chapter is Hooman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moo? Henlo hoomans once again I am back with a new chapter-wow a double upload- Enjoy.

It couldn't be...Why did this have to happen? After all, he had wished and pleaded for, it had to go this way. 

"Annie! Just come underground with us, we wanna talk!" Eren yelled.

There she stood, the person Armin loved the most. Standing there knowing what was going to happen next. "Annie...Please, Just come with us." He tried to keep the tears from falling, he tried to keep his cool. he tried. 

But, then she started laughing, "Armin, I'm glad I could be a good person for you. But...this is where my bet begins!"

Armin could see that she was going to go bite her hand, So he quickly lifted up his hand and pulled the trigger to his flare gun, Signaling the hidden people to restrain her. The hidden people jumped out of their hiding spots and rushed towards Annie locking her in place.

"We did it! we restrained her", Armin thought to himself, but his joy was soon taken away when he saw the ring on her finger.

Mikasa pulled him and Eren down the steps into the tunnel further. Limp dead bodies fell down the stairs and collided with the wall, a thick coating of blood covering the ground and wall as the female titan reached her hand down into the tunnel attempting to grab Eren.

"Damnit! The way she was acting... she must've seen through me right away!" Armin said as they ran deeper into the tunnel, "She knew we were going to ambush her underground!" 

He couldn't believe that it was really Annie that was the Female Titan. "There must've been another way," Armin sighed. There should've been a better way to do this, all the innocent people that just died, it was for nothing. "Right now is not the time for that" Mikasa said slowing down their pace as they neared two of their other comrades. "Hey, it's team three!"

"Did your capture attempt fail?" The one with light brown hair asked.

"It did! Move on to the next sta-" Armin stopped running just in time to avoid being smashed by a giant foot. A huge gust of hot air and dust obscured their view as the Female Titan pulled its foot back out through the ceiling. "She kicked it in?!" Eren yelled in shock "We have to help them!" But before he could even reach the rubble and struggling bodies Mikasa pulled him back. "Eren! Back!"

"That bitch wouldn't mind killing Eren, she risked it," Mikasa said pulling Eren away from the pile of rocks. 

"She smashed open the tunnel hoping she wouldn't kill you! It's crazy, but it makes her even scarier!" Armin yelled while turning back around and running in the direction they came. "Annie will be trying as hard as she can to capture you!"

The three survey corps members stopped running and began to go to the backup stage.

They stood huddle together while Eren tried transforming into a titan. "Ngh- Ahh! Why now..." He said, pulling his bleeding hand away from his mouth. "So you can't transform," Armin pointed out, "unless it's for a specific, concrete reason?". 

If Eren couldn't transform then the second plan wouldn't be able to go into play, and so many more innocent people would die. "Clear your mind and try again!" Armin blurted out.

Eren bit his hand again, only to not transform once more. "Aren't you really just hesitant to fight Annie again?" Mikasa said, squatting down next to him. "Shut UP! You guys aren't helping!

There tunnel shook and dust fell from the ceiling. "Me and Mikasa will exit the exit and the entrance at the same time! Annie will have to follow one of us" Armin said, turning towards the exit.

After the two left some of the ceiling collapsed on Eren. "Urgh... No... My friends are out there... I can't fail them now.... I'll annihilate her... No.... I'll kill her!" He pushed his body so that a sharp piece of wood penetrated his body further. He Grunted and groaned in pain but he kept pushing, 

Even in the heat of the moment, Eren didn't turn into a titan, he could feel the blood pooling out of his Body. "Damnit! why Is this not working!"

Eren's vision started getting blurrier, And the feeling in his body went numb. "W-work...Damnit"

~~~

Armin ran atop of a building rooftop keeping a consistent pace, "Where the hell is Eren!?" Armin yelled gaining on the female titan or to be more specific He was gaining on Annie. Mikasa stopped running and looked back behind us, "Eren!" She yelled when she saw the smoke rising from the crater in the tunnel. "Wait, Mikasa! we have to stick to the plan!" The blondette yelled, but the raven-haired girl did not listen as she flew off back towards the tunnel. 

Once Armin caught up with Annie he held on to the titan's hair like his life depended on it- Which it did- "Annie! Please don't do this! We can work this out! we can get you on our side!" He yelled, "Please don't do this...Please just surrender".

Just saying that caused thought's that he wishes he hadn't thought of started running through his mind. "If she got away, would she be gone forever?"..."What would they do to her once we caught her?"..."Why can't she see that I love her?"

A sudden loud sound pulled Armin out of his thoughts, and then the next thing he knew he was falling straight down. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, and could hear something in his ODM gear crack, "Dammit" He said standing up.

"Hahaha! we have you trapped now...And this time you can't call for any titans to come and eat you..." Armin looked over at Hanji who seemed to be speaking to Annie, "but don't worry I'll devour you instead"

The leg...The titan's leg moved, it was going to kick the traps, "Hanji! watch out!" Armin yelled as the Titans leg smashed through all the traps. "Shit! it's getting away!" A guy from atop one of the buildings. The Female titan quickly got up and rushed away again.

Even though she was getting away, Armin can't let her get away no matter what. 

Armin jumped up into the air swinging from building to building as he quickly gained on her. "I have no choice, I wanted to reason with her...But looks like I'll have to do differently. When he got close enough he landed on Annie's shoulder again- somehow she didn't smash him when he did- "I'm sorry Annie" were the last words before he Jammed his sword into the nape of her neck.


	3. Broken shards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henlo again, Honestly I think my writing quality went from good to trash after chapter one. I'm really sorry. Leave a review telling me your thoughts on the story quality. Why does this site have no italics?

Two years...That's how long it's been after the mission to capture the female titan, and Armin still couldn't shake off the fact that Annie was the female titan. But to be honest, he could care less about what she did: She must've had a reason to do what she did. Armin rested his forehead against the cool surface of his shell. The memories of that day...the way her eyes were filled with dread and sadness all at once.

The way that she tried to hold onto Armin...Her eyes pleaded for help., But armin couldn't save her as the crystalline surface encased her body within the crystal tomb. He tried everything cutting, burning, But nothing seemed to work, nothing could break the thick layer of crystal that was separating them.

This crystalline shell is what kept her away from him. Every aching moment that he spent without her was torture, every day that Armin went without hearing her voice was terrible.

"Annie... Can you hear me? If you can, I want you to know that I miss you... And that I know, you really just a good person on the inside, aren't you?" 

He went to rest his hand upon the rigid cool surface but was interrupted in the process by a faint sound. "Huh?" He said stepping away from the crystal cocoon. The air was soon followed by the sound of cracks from the crystalline shell.

The webbed like cracks ran across the surface of the crystal until it broke open. The sound of liquid and crystal shards hitting the floor echoed throughout the room.

Armin's eyes widened at what he saw, There on the floor surrounded by some clear slimy substance lied Annie, I didn't take more than two seconds of realization for Armin to rush over and falls to his knees giving her a hug. He didn't care if she was awake or not, as long as he could hold her, and let out all the emotions he had been locking away everything would be fine.

"A-Annie..I've missed you... so much" He hugged her tightly, tears starting to form in the blonde's eyes. 

No response.

Her skin was cold and clammy, and wet from the liquid that had been inside the crystal, Her breathing was slow and ragged. Armin looked down at her face to see that it was flushed red and it seemed she was having trouble breathing. "Annie! Are you okay?" he questioned while placing the back of his hand on her forehead. She was burning up now, " She has a high fever! I have to go get Commander Hanji." He thought, picking Annie up bridal style.

"Hang in there, Annie, I'll get you to a doctor"

He didn't even bother explaining why he was holding Annie to hitch as he ran by her. "Hey! Wait! come back!" Hitch yelled to Armin, but he didn't stop. He ran and ran until he spotted Hanji talking to some other people.

"Commander Hanji!" Armin yelled, rushing over to the brunette, "Annie has come out of the crystal, and she seems to have a high fever!" Armin was panicking, he couldn't lose Annie to a stupid fever... Right?

"Eh!? She finally came out of that Cocoon?" Hanji said in pure excitement. "Yeah but she has a fever, we need to help her," Armin said handing Annie over to Hanji. "I'll make sure she gets the medicine that she needs, until she's all better I'd recommend you go to sleep"

Sleep? when was the last time he had a good rest? He couldn't leave her side. "No I'm staying here, I want to stay next to Annie," He said letting out a sigh.

"Okay if that's what you wanna do." Hanji replied.

~~~

The memories of the day she encased herself in this Cocoon still lingered in her mind like it happened just yesterday, But how would she know how long she had been in here. 

"Annie! No Please don't leave me!" 

His screams....

"Annie! please....Annie"

The way that he tried clawing away the hardened crystal with his bare hands until they bled hurt. The tears that Cascaded down his cheeks hurt. She could feel all his pain, but why?

"Annie...I just wanted to talk."

What was that she accomplished? Murder? The title of "Monster"? She didn't know anymore...But she couldn't stand all the time she spent alone in this crystal. All of the sins she ever committed replayed in her mind over and over again.

"Why did you kill them, Annie?"

"Annie...Why did you kill me? we didn't even talk anything out? you just left me to get bitten in half" Marco's lost soul's voice whispered into her mind. 

But there was one thing that hurt her the most

"Annie...Why do you hate me?"

Those words broke her, they cut her like broken glass shards, How could Armin say that? She didn't hate him she just...Just couldn't let him get close for his own good. But..somehow Armin still managed to visit her, even though she was a monster, even though she pushed him away for so long.

"Annie, I know you are really just a good person on the inside, aren't you? You're not a monster...I miss hearing your voice Annie, I miss you."

The voices raged in my head again, and I couldn't take it any longer, my head felt like it was splitting in half. And then it broke. Armin's voice was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

-/- 

Annie woke up to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling, She would normally sit up and looked around the new environment she was in, but currently, her body was in too much pain to move anything. She had looked out of the corner of her left eye to see a figure sitting at her side, it seemed that this person was holding her hand.

She strained herself to turn her body just a little bit so she could she the Person better, the sight she saw was quite shocking. "A-Armin?" She gasped.

This must be a dream..This can't be real...Armin hates me so why is he here? 

Thoughts and questions filled her head at an incomprehensible rate, it was making her head hurt more than it should.

Why is he holding my hand? why is he here? does he hate me still? does he forgive me? Why do I have to suffer all this pain? Why is the world So evil like this? 

"....Annie?" A familiar voice asked.

**Author's Note:**

> Translation: Not all things seem to be what they are.


End file.
